Interchangeable identification theftproof handle construction



Dec. 31, 1963 A. A. LACHANCE ,7

INTERCHANGEABLE IDENTIFICATION THEFT-PROOF HANDLE CONSTRUCTION FiledNov. 21, 1958 A, FIG! 22 FIG?) 4 42 4 \4 1 A w! Hlllllllllll INVENTOR@Aw M 7 ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,il5,72tl lhl'flElitlHAbiL-EABLElDENElFlCATlQN THEE- lfllilflill lillANlDlLE CUNSTRUQTIUN Armand A.lbachance, American Metal Products (10., Seuthbridge Sat, Auburn, Mass.Filed Nov. 21, 1953, er. No. 775,651 l. Claim. (Cl. ill-308) Thisinvention relates to a new and improved handle construction combinedwith an advertising medium or identification device and including meansfor permanently protecting the advertising message or identification,etc., together with theft-proof means for securing the parts together inassembled relation; and the provision of a device as above statedincluding means for disassembling the device for changing theadvertising slogan or identification only by authorized personnel.

Further objects of the invention include the provision of a new andimproved handle particularly adapted for grocery carts or other devices,said handle construction being extremely strong and permanent, easilyassembled and isassembled, but by use of authorized personnel only, andincluding the provision of a primary elongated tube adapted to receive afastener at each end thereof, said fastener being theft-proof andholding the parts in fixed assembled relation, there being anintermediate tube preferably of extruded plastic or the like surroundingthe first-named tube, said second-named tube being provided with anidentifying imprint or advertising thereon, and a tl'iird and last tubesuperimposed upon the intermediate tube, said last tube preferably beingclear and permanently protecting the intermediate tube and the advert gor identifying imprint thereon, together with theftpreof locking meansas aforesaid preferably threaded with relation to the innermost tube ofthe three tubes and substantially permanently assembling said tub-es infixed, non-twisting relation onto a supporting means which may be, forinstance, bent wire frame members applied to a cart or other vehicle.

The invention further relates to arrangements and combinations of partswhich will be hereinafter described and more particularly set forth inthe appended claim.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which l is aview in side elevation illustrating a grocery having be novel handleapplied thereto; blG. 2 is an enlarged view, looking in the direction ofarrow 2. in FIG. 1, parts being broken away and in section;

FlG. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of FIG. 2; l6. 4 is an end view, lookingin the direction 4- in PK}. 3; and

5 is a view illustrating a special tool for use with the assembly of theparts shown in FIGS. 2 to 4 inclusive.

in carrying out the present construction, the same has been shown asapplied to a more or less conventional grocery cart including a basketportion lb, a lower platform 12, and wheels lld and lid. T his grocerycart has applied thereto as a part thereof bent wire members and thesebeing a continuation of each other and forming not only a structuralmember of a side of the basket ill but also being extended to the rearin a substantially circular conformation as illustrated at 22 and provimg a support for the handle to be described.

The handle itself comprises a innermost tube 24 which is elongated andreduced at the end portions thereof as at the portion at 26 beinginternally threaded for the reception of a threaded fastener 25. Thisfastener 28 is provided with a substantially circular head portion 3b,this head portion being externally rounded all the way to the edgesthereof, see 32-, and failing to provide a grip for an ordinary wrenchor pair of pliers. The head is flat at the under side and may beindented at a plurality of of arrow ice positions as for instance at 34so that it may be turned by means of a special wrench 36 in FIG. 5.

This wrench is provided with an enlarged opening 38 and inwardlydirected projections which are adapted to fit the indentations 34 forturning the headed fastener 28 and Z-tl to both assemble and disassemblethe same with relation to the substantially annular portion 22 of thewire members is and 2d and also with respect to the handle constructionto be described including tube 2 The important point of the head 3b ofthis fastener is that it may not be taken 0d or disassembled byconventional means such as open end or box wrenches, monkeywrenches,pipe wrenches, pliers, etc, but instead must be assembled anddis-assembled by means of a special tool snown in detail in FIG. 5.

An intermediate tube indicated at 42 is assembled over the inner tube24. Preferably the inner tube 24 is metal for strength but the tube 42may be made of extruded plastic and may therefore appear in differentcolors and it also may be imprinted as indicated in FIG. 2 in any waydesired for advertising or for identification purposes. This tube may bestraight from end-to-end thereof and is not necessarily provided withany kind of fastening means at the ends thereof.

An outside tube indicated at 34 is applied over the intermediate tubeand is preferably m de of clear plastic so that the lettering on theintermete tube is apparent therethrough and is permanently protected bythe clear plastic tube 44. It is to be understood that these tubes mayof course be made of any other materials but as a practical matter it isconvenient to form the same as stated in order to provide a very strong,rigid combined advertising medium and handle comprising an inner metaltube, an intermediate lettered or indicated colored plastic tube and anouter clear plastic tube, the rimary function of which is to protect theintermediate tube and the lettering thereon.

As will be seen from FIGS. 2 and 3, the three tubes upon beingtelescopically assembled are applied between the annular parts of thewire members as at 2.2 and then the fasteners 23 mod 36) are appliedthrough the central portion of the annular members 22 and threaded intothe reduced portions of the inner tube 24 as is clearly shown FIG. 3.Upon tightening, this action clamps the annular portion 22 of the wire13 between head 3% at the under flat side thereof and the tubes &2 andid, and this secures the parts together in fixed relation. Thisconstruction provides a strong, rigid handle member which will not faileven under very severe usage such as grocery carts and smaller vehicleshave applied thereto and at the same time the advertising message oridentification appearing on the handle is permanently protected by theoutside tube 44- and the entire assembly is protected againstunauthorized removal or disassembly or theft of any of the parts, aswell as sealed against dirt and protected against twisting or turning ofthe imprinted tube.

daving thus described my invention and the advan tages thereof, 1 do notwish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than asset forth in the claim, but what I claim is:

A device of the class described comprising a plurality of tubularmembers of different diameters in telescoped relationship, means tosecure the assembled tubes to annular obiects at the ends of the tubes,the outermost tube being transparent and the next inner tube havingindicia thereon, an innermost tube having internal threads at the endsthereof, said means including headed bolts for for cooperation with thethreads, the heads of the bolts securing the annular objects to thetubes, said heads being substantially the same in diameter as theannular objects and the outermost tube, the heads overlying and bearingon the annular objects and clamping the same to the ends 1,610,503Langan Dec. 5, 1911 Lee Feb. 3, 1903 Currie Jan. 9, 1917 Kiger June 4,1929 Hope Dec. 8, 1931 Corrnier July 2, 1946 WiHiams Apr. 15, 1947 CadieFeb. 6, 1951 Brockway Aug. 31, 1954 Peters Aug. 27, 1957 Welter Dec. 29,1959

